Binghamton powers past WBS Pens

WILKES-BARRE TWP. - Down by a goal with less than two minutes left in regulation, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton winger Beau Bennett took a pass from teammate Trevor Smith and found himself alone at the right hash marks a few feet in front of the net.

Binghamton goalie Robin Lehner sensed danger and committed, sliding to the ice in a two-pad stack.

With Lehner in that position, Bennett knew there was no use trying to pick an open corner. If he shot, it would either find a piece of the goalie's equipment or it wouldn't. It was a 50-50 proposition.

If he passed back to Smith, well, that was a different story.

"That's the thing," Bennett said. "If it connects, it's a 100 percent goal. The goalie's out of the net."

So Bennett passed.

And Binghamton's back-checking defense prevented Smith from getting a stick on the puck.

And two passes later, Mike Hoffman scored into an empty net to give the B-Sens a 3-1 victory Wednesday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

When a team is on a winning streak, Smith probably receives the pass and the celebration is on. With a team like the Penguins, who have lost 13 of their last 15, Murphy's Law prevails.

"It's just unfortunate that happens and then they go down and score," Bennett said. "Next time, I think shooting will be a better option and give us a better chance to score."

As they have many times during the mid-season slide, the Penguins didn't play altogether poorly Wednesday night. They just couldn't put anything together in the offensive zone in the first two periods.

"We're there in the shot clock. We're there in the scoring chances. We're there in the work ethic," coach John Hynes said. "Right now, the pucks are not going in and we're not getting the end results we want."

Binghamton took a 2-0 lead when Stephane Da Costa finished off a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play in the first period and defenseman Eric Gryba scored from the blue line on the power play early in the third.

The Penguins tried to rally in the third period, outshooting the B-Sens 14-4.

Paul Thompson joined a net-front scrum and finished off the rebound of an Eric Tangradi shot at 4:45 to make it 2-1, but Lehner stood his ground and held the Penguins at bay.

He stopped 31-of-32 shots and has allowed just six goals on 186 shots in five games against the Penguins this season.

"We'd get in there and do the right things, but instead of putting the puck in the right spot, it just wouldn't work out," Thompson said.

Struggling to find a remedy for a power play that has scored on just three of its last 69 chances over the last 14 games, Hynes even used 6-foot-5, 250-pound heavyweight Steve MacIntyre in front of the net for a few shifts with the man-advantage.

It didn't work. The Penguins went 0-for-5.

A large contingent of Pittsburgh brass, including general manager Ray Shero, was at the game, getting a look at the handful of players they will invite to training camp in Pittsburgh when it starts this weekend.

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.